Rafael Almeida is neither a Cuban or a Spaniard, but a Portuguese. He says that he is not Senor Almeida, but Senhor D’Almeida, of a well-known Lisbon family, exporters of port wines and such good things. What next?

And Tom Grieve, the shortstop who hasn’t shortstopped any yet, is a Scotchman, born in Kiltland, and still carrying a Hieland brogue that would warm the heart of Bobby Burns. Oh, very well. Has anyone seen Nikolaieff Skobeloffskivitch in the offing?

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Player update...
Edwin Encarnacion had a colossally bad start to the season, prompting this article calling for his head (at the time (late May) he was hitting .237/.262/.324 with sub-abysmal fielding).
Since then, in 184 PA, he's hit .299/.361/.545 and raised his fielding percentage at third by 93 points (from .784 to .877 ... he's mainly DH'd over the period, for reasons that I hope are obvious).

Why haven't the Twins optioned Nishioka to AAA yet? He's hitting .205/.257/.231 (168 PA) with lousy numbers on defense. I know they aren't going anywhere this year but ... yeech.

And replace him with someone as bad or worse on offense, or someone as bad or worse on defense? At least Nishioka has a chance at being a decent all around player. No one else near the majors can say that.

And replace him with someone as bad or worse on offense, or someone as bad or worse on defense?
His OPS+ going into the night was 39 - it has since fallen. His TZ estimate for his value over a full season at short? -26 runs. (UZR says -8.) This is waaaaay below replacement level under any reasonable definition.

Put another way ... If you're an DT/EQA guy (I'm not, but it's freely available, for which I'm thankful) ... Nishioka's mark is worse than the translation for any Rochester or New Britain starter, regardless of position (including their middle infielders, obviously). Do I think this is his true talent level? No - but he's not performing at the level expected of a non-introductory level professional baseball player - let him get up to speed (if possible) in another environment.

Put another way - you know how awful a season Dunn is having with Chicago - no average + bad defense at a hitter's position? Nishioka (by some WAR estimates) has been about as damaging to the Twins - in half the time.

I can't disagree that he's been worse than you'd project almost anyone else to be, but he also projects to be no worse than anyone else. I think it's a terrible precedent to effectively dump a guy after 45 games in favor of players that everyone knows are poor players.

but he also projects to be no worse than anyone else.
In at least the short term, I doubt this very much.

Beyond that:
1. You're not dumping him - you're demoting him. There is, I think, a substantial difference (as you know, you're committed to him financial for the next several years).
2. I think it's a terrible precedent to play someone everyday who is not performing at a level anywhere near what's expected from a major league ballplayer. (Or AAA, or AA, or arguably A+.) I don't simply mean for the club's record, I mean it's disrespectful to the rest of your big league roster. At the same time, he needs reps to acclimate / figure out what the hell is wrong with him. Thus, Rochester.

Pile of amazing #### tonight. I was at Sox/Indians, which ended in a walkoff. Teixeira hit HRs from both sides of the plate (ML record 12th time). After a collection of questionable HBPs, Yadier bumped and inadvertently spat on the home plate up (suspension says hi). Bautista went deep. Brennan Boesch. And Ichiro in the stands.

Beyond that:
1. You're not dumping him - you're demoting him. There is, I think, a substantial difference (as you know, you're committed to him financial for the next several years).
2. I think it's a terrible precedent to play someone everyday who is not performing at a level anywhere near what's expected from a major league ballplayer. (Or AAA, or AA, or arguably A+.) I don't simply mean for the club's record, I mean it's disrespectful to the rest of your big league roster. At the same time, he needs reps to acclimate / figure out what the hell is wrong with him. Thus, Rochester.

The Twins have played most of the season with about half of the team not playing anywhere near major league level. And a fair portion of that was contributed by some of the players you would replace Nishioka with. It's not disrespectful its bad luck and bad roster management. Should they replace him with Matt Tolbert ho's hitting .197 and is a poor defensive shortstop? Or Trevor Plouffe who's hitting .199. He's actually got some power, but he's a worse defender than Tolbert. I guess if Casilla was healthy, you could move him to short and start Luke Hughes (.233) at second, but he's not a great fielder either. Or if Casilla and Morneau were healthy, you could put Cuddyer at second, but he's probably more of a butcher than Nishioka is. I guess the other option is to call up Toby Gardenhire from AAA, but I'd have a stroke, and he'd struggle to hit his weight anyway. I honestly don't see anyone who can field the ball competently and is likely to hit above .200. It's a terrible roster, and that's not Nishioka's fault. He's got the best track record of success of anyone, even if that was in Japan.

I'm aware that it's just a regular demotion, but signing a Japanese player means that you are committing to help him transition to MLB, on and off the field. Sending him to AAA after 46 games might just mean marginally better baseball, but it's terrible management and a worse precedent for your roster when you give up on players that you make a commitment to for no obvious reason.